1. Field of the Invention
The present invention broadly relates to a disk device for inserting a disk-containing cartridge therein, and, more particularly, to a disk device allowing a shutter of a cartridge, inserted by a simple mechanism, to be opened, and the cartridge to be ejected.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are recording media to which data can be recorded, using an optical recording method, a magneto-optical recording method, or a phase-change recording method. An example of such recording media is a disk Da contained in a cartridge C, which is shown in FIG. 7A.
The cartridge C has a shutter S at a side portion at an X1 side, with the shutter S being slidable in the Y1-Y2 directions and being biased in the Y2 direction by a spring. When the shutter S slides in the Y2 direction, the window of the cartridge C is closed, whereas when the shutter S moves in the Y1 direction, the window is opened.
The disk device for inserting the cartridge C therein requires a shutter opening mechanism for opening the shutter S by making it slide in the Y1 direction, as well as an ejection mechanism for pushing out the cartridge C from the opening, after reproduction.
However, separately providing the aforementioned shutter opening mechanism and the aforementioned ejection mechanism makes the structure of the drive device very complicated.
To overcome such a problem, as shown in FIG. 7A, a rotary lever 61, serving as both a shutter opening mechanism and an ejection mechanism, may be provided in the device in the direction of insertion of the cartridge (X1 direction). The base end of the rotary lever 61 is rotatably supported by a supporting shaft 62 as fulcrum, with a biasing pin 63 provided at an end of the rotary lever 61. The rotary lever 61 is biased in the .alpha.1 direction by a spring.
When the cartridge C is inserted in the X1 direction, the biasing pin 63 is retained by an end S1 of the shutter S. Further insertion of the cartridge C in the X1 direction causes the rotary lever 61 to rotate in the .alpha.2 direction, during which rotation the biasing pin 63 pushes the shutter S in the Y1 direction to open it.
After reproduction of data on the disk Da in the cartridge, the rotary lever 61 is rotated in the Y2 direction by the spring in order to eject the cartridge C.
However, as shown in FIG. 7A, the rotary lever 61 is provided at the back side of the disk device, so that there is a limit as to how long the rotary lever 61 can be made. Therefore, when ejecting the cartridge C, the ejection stroke of the cartridge C, during rotation of the rotary lever 61 in the .alpha.1 direction, is short, making it difficult to ensure ejection of the cartridge C out the disk device.
At the moment the cartridge C is inserted in the X1 direction, and the biasing pin 63 strikes the end S1 of the shutter S, the rotary lever 61 extends in the X1 direction. Therefore, immediately after the biasing pin 63 has struck the end S1 of the shutter S, the reaction force, produced during rotation of the biasing pin 63 in the .alpha.2 direction, is large, so that there is a large force that opposes the insertion of the cartridge C.